Luc De Vos (12 July 1962 – 29 November 2014) was a Belgian musician and writer, best known as the lead singer of the

Dutch-language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans'' ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

formation

Gorki Gorki may refer to: * Gorki Águila (b. 1968), Cuban rock musician *Gorki (band), a Belgian band of Luc De Vos * Gorki (Kazan Metro), a station of the Kazan Metro, Kazan, Russia * Gorki Ridge, a ridge in Antarctica * Gorki, Russia, several inha ...

and as a guest in multiple

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

shows. He also voiced VW bus in the Flemish version of the Disney movie ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

''. He died of acute organ failure on the 29 November 2014 in his working apartment in Ghent.

Early life

De Vos was born in 1962 in the village of Wippelgem near

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

as the youngest of 7 children. He had his secondary education at the Sint-Lievenscollege in Ghent. As a toddler, he knew that he wanted to become a rockstar, a job he described as a privilege rather than a job, once he had it.

Career

Musical career

With his original band Gorky, De Vos ended third in

Humo's Rock Rally Humo's Rock Rally is a Belgian contest for rock bands, organized every second year since 1978. It is organized by the Belgian magazine HUMO. Every band that has not yet released an official recording, may enter the Rock Rally, by submitting a demo ...

in 1990. Together with Noordkaap, who won the same Rock Rally, he brought the genre of

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

to the people's attention. After Gorky disbanded in 1993, Luc De Vos continued under the name

. Stijn Meuris described the genre of Gorki's songs and De Vos's lyrics as "Flemish poetry with the boots in the clay" and "I have no clue what this guy was talking about, but I understood him". Temporary side projects of De Vos include

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

rock formation

Automatic Buffalo Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * Automatic (Jack Bruce album), ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce a ...

which he started with the members of Ashbury Faith, and a solo tour in 2010. With his bands Gorky/Gorki, he had 3 singles and 12 albums in the Flemish charts (the album charts only start in 1995, i.e. after his first albums were released). This included 5 top ten albums.

Writing career

Luc De Vos wrote columns for, among others,

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

radio station

Studio Brussel A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial d ...

and the Ghent city magazine ''Zone 09/''. He also wrote several books, the most recent of which, ''Paddenkoppenland'' (''Toadheadsland''), was described as an autobiography even though De Vos himself denied this.

Death

Luc De Vos was found dead in the early evening of 29 November 2014 in his working apartment in Ghent. After an autopsy, both suicide and malicious intent were ruled out. The cause of death was concluded to be acute failure of vital organs. He left a wife and a son. De Vos' public funeral at Saint Peter's Church in Ghent took place on Saturday 6 December 2014. Around 15,000 people assembled outside on the Saint Peter's Square as the church was full. He was buried in the famous Catholic cemetery of Campo Santo.

Legacy

Luc De Vos's most famous song was "Mia". Though originally a B-side, it soon grew to be one of the most popular songs in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, as well as gaining a cult following in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, having been voted top of multiple radio station's lists of most timeless songs, including reaching the #1 spot three years in a row on "De Tijdloze 100", the best song of all-time list voted for by the listeners of

. The song has given its name to the MIA's, the music awards for Belgian artists.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Vos, Luc 1962 births 2014 deaths Belgian male singers Belgian male writers People from Evergem Belgian Roman Catholics